I recently did an internship at a local brewery and I feel that I do not lauter for long enough when I home-brew. I really want to improve this aspect of my brewing, and am curious about the techniques that some of you employ to run the wort back into your mash without disturbing your grain bed. Currently I run the wort into a pitcher and carefully pour it back onto my grain bed, trying to pour it down the side of the cooler.

I add lautering water to the mash tun to get around a 4" head. I then use a pitcher to slowly pour the wort into the water on top, I don't worry about the side of the vessel. I keep this 4" head space the whole time I lauter. Oh, and on top of the grain bed I put the perforated disk that came with the turkey fryer to dip the turkey into the oil. I think this helps distribute the flow through the bed and I get good efficiencies.

Ryan I would be careful about channeling from pouring your wort down the side of your cooler. If your wort forms a channel, your efficiency will be affected your efforts could be in vain.

Before I got a pump, I did much the same as you. I called it my "Three-Piece Manual RIMS" I used two ultra cheap sauce-pans and my mash paddle. As one sauce-pan was filling, I would pour the other one back on top of the mash using my paddle to diffuse the wort. Simple, effective, and cheap. but it is a PITA and a pump is the best money I ever spent.

I fly sparge. Would it be a bad idea to run my wort through a bowl with holes drilled into it on the top of my round cooler to ensure that I do not form any channels while I lauter? I haven't done this or Bob's mash paddle technique in the past because I was worried about hot-side aeration. I know that is a contentious subject, but after seeing how a real brewery lautered I became less concerned about hot-side aeration. What do you guys think?

I think that what a "real brewery" does may or may not apply to homebrewing. Bill has a good point...if you keep a few inches of water on top of your grain bed, you can carefully pour back into that without disturbing the bed. Many people put a piece of foil on top of the bed and pour back on to that.

The biggest thing you can do to prevent channeling is to always keep a few inches of liquid above the grain. This keeps the grain in a semi-liquid state.If the level drops below the surface of the grain it will set up and can form channels.

If you do that and also keep a pie or pizza pan with holes (or anything simular as several folks have mentioned) so it doesn't drill down into the grain when you pour back in you should be good.

I use one of those orange 5 gallon coolers. The cover is hollow. I cut a 5"X 3" opening in the top of the cover and drilled holes on the bottom side. While the cover is in place I pour my sparge water through the opening and it rains down on the grain bed.

I interned at Rohrbach's. Now that they opened their new downtown location (Railroad Street) they are taking interns. I had a great experience there, and am happy that they took me because I like their beer better than CB's, and I don't think I would ever want to work at High Falls (i.e., Genesee).

I get my supplies from a few different places. Some at Beers of the World, some as Sun World Hydroponics (the new Greece store is not bad for hops), and the rest at Niagara Traditions in Buffalo.

When did you graduate from RIT? I have a friend that teaches there, but he has only been there for a couple years, or so.